"It's strange that they don't recruit teachers to teach?"
"His Royal Highness the King of Wei has never looked for a teacher."
Fang Xuanling nodded and said: "Your Majesty, how can ordinary literati associate with these people? Craftsmen and cooks are both looked down upon by literati."
Li Shimin sat down in a newly built waterside pavilion and was in a very good mood, "It seems that Lishan is unable to do anything about the academy that is still under construction?"
Li Junxian and Fang Xuanling stood behind His Majesty, one on the left and one on the right.
Craftsmen began to lay bricks and stones on both sides of the river embankment. As long as Lishan was unhappy, the emperor would be happier.
Fang Xuanling whispered: "Your Majesty, it seems that Lishan wants to divide the interests to order many villages and counties."
"Well, I know very well that this method of using profits to win people's hearts will not last long."
"I have thought about it, if Lishan can bring other villages and counties to become rich, where will the benefits come from?"
Li Shimin thought about it, and a picture emerged in his mind. It was very interesting to use Lishan Mountain as the starting point to develop surrounding villages and counties.
Fang Xuanling said again: "Your Majesty, there is an old saying that winning over people's hearts is nothing more than teaching people to entertain or teaching people to gain reputation. Zhang Yang chose the path of teaching people to fish."
"Well, is Xuanling saying that his methods are very clever?"
"I think teaching people how to fish is beneficial. Even if Zhang Yang hands over simple weaving skills to other villages and counties, where will the benefits come from?"
Li Shimin nodded and motioned for him to continue.
Fang Xuanling continued: "If Zhang Yang uses the functions of Taifu Temple to get other towns and counties to respond to the call, who will their goods be sold to?"
"I now understand the reason for the previous negotiation in Lishan. It's no wonder that Lishan is clinging to the Hexi Corridor. Lishan wants to have its own operating rights and pricing rights in the Hexi Corridor because Zhang Yang has long understood
, Lishan alone cannot satisfy him."
Li Shimin's eyes became a little colder, and he suddenly laughed at himself, "Xuan Ling means that you and I have fallen into their trap?"
First he let out a long sigh, and then Fang Xuanling said: "At first, I thought Zhang Yang's goal was very simple. To make those poor villages and counties rich, it was nothing more than weaving together with Lishan and selling goods to Chang'an City, so as to absorb the wealth.
The wealth of Chang'an City."
"But Zhang Yang always thinks long-term when doing things. He can always plan the future in three to five years. From the three-year production plan that Lishan often discussed at the beginning, we can see that he is a person with a very long-term vision."
"Zhang Yang is a capable person. When I was negotiating with Lishan, I also thought that even if the DPRK paid off Lishan's capital in the Hexi Corridor, Lishan still wanted to seize the operating rights of the Hexi Corridor. That's because
The pond in Chang'an City is not big enough to satisfy him."
Fang Xuanling bowed and continued: "Your Majesty can recall the time when soap first appeared in Chang'an. At that time, people flocked to scented soap."
Li Shimin nodded, "Yeah."
"But people are only curious about soap for one year. After one year, the value of soap will not be so great, and the same is true for other things. If Lishan only relies on the sales of Guanzhong and Chang'an City, Lishan's goods will only become more and more expensive.
Cheap. I have been observing paper prices in the past year. As Lishan paper appears on the market, the price of the most common mulberry paper has dropped from 200 yuan per foot to 60 yuan per foot, while the price of Lishan paper is
Forty dollars a foot."
"The price of grain hurts farmers, and the same goes for goods. The cloth weaved by people is getting cheaper and cheaper, and it is the workers who are suffering. If there is such a place that can solve the problem of hoarding goods in the Central Plains that hurts farmers, the only thing left is mutual trade.
"
The shouts of craftsmen could be heard from time to time in the riverbed of Taiye Pond, and Xuan Ling's analysis was listened carefully to his ears.
"Your Majesty, the price of these goods outside the customs is different. After the contract was negotiated in Lishan last month, the memorial of the Hexi Corridor was sent to the court. One tael of tea was sold for thirty yuan."
Li Shimin frowned and a vein in his forehead twitched when he heard the price. Is tea so expensive?
The price of tea in Guanzhong is only three yuan or one tael.
Once outside customs, the price increased tenfold.
His voice was low, "So, the original negotiation was made by Lishan?"
Fang Xuanling looked sad, "Your Majesty, there are two miscalculations in the court. The officials in the court except Di Zhisun in the Hexi Corridor did not report the business situation, but Lishan went to the Hexi Corridor every year to check the accounts and know the prices of goods."
"Lishan has figured out the needs outside the customs, what people outside the customs need, what they don't need, what kind of goods are indispensable to outside the customs... Presumably these things have already been accounted for in Lishan, this is Lishan's opportunity to seize the opportunity
One of the reasons is that they only need to master a few important items. This is a miscalculation on the part of the DPRK."
"Secondly, now that the DPRK and the Central Government are no longer allowed to interfere in the management of Lishan, and Lishan has the right to make its own decisions, it is even more difficult to intervene. In this way, the DPRK and the Central Government have missed the opportunity, and this opportunity is the value of tea.
"
Li Shimin nodded and said: "The tea I heard is not only grown in Huainan."
"Your Majesty, having said that, Lishan has the right to operate the Hexi Corridor. If you want to sell Guanzhong tea, you can only rely on Lishan, and you can only look at Lishan's face. The tea is not important, the Hexi Corridor is important. This
Just like a ship traveling on water, the cargo is not important, the ship is the most important."
The previous good mood was gone. Now listening to Fang Xuanling's analysis, the emperor's face became darker and darker.
Unlike Changsun Wuji, Fang Xuanling relied heavily on his strategy when he was in the Prince of Qin's palace, and he still relies on his arm to this day.
Changsun Wuji was more self-interested in his behavior.
Fang Xuanling was different. He never formed cliques in the court, and he did not want to lose anything.
If Changsun Wuji said this, he was probably doing it for his own benefit.
So these words coming from Fang Xuanling's mouth belong to Yu Gong. He will not deliberately make things difficult for Lishan, nor will he seek profit for himself.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhang Yang seems to be just transporting the goods to the Hexi Corridor to sell them. Behind the scenes, he is also checking the sales and needs of outsiders.
He was more of a fox than a fox. Li Shimin's breathing became heavier and he clenched his fist secretly in his sleeve.
"I have thought about why Zhang Yang is always able to walk in front of the court. Since His Majesty appointed Zhang Yang to serve as the head of the East Palace, whether it is in the Chongde Hall or the collection of books in the former Sui Dynasty, or in the Imperial College, he has read all the books
.”
"Even Master Kong Yingda said that what Zhang Yang learned was not a Confucian style, but his materialism was unique."
"Perhaps Zhang Yang asked the Ministry of Rites to collect many geographical records outside the Pass, and constantly sent officials to understand the customs outside the Pass, and compile geographical records. As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you will be able to fight a hundred battles. Your Majesty often said that Zhang Yang was just a wealthy and good man."
"I thought... I still underestimated him. Zhang Yang's wealth did not come from selling shoes today, like selling fish the next day. He is more powerful than the merchants. His wealth comes from the accumulation of these years.
.”
"After years of accumulation and accumulation, this son has been building Lishan step by step. He is cautious and careful in everything. The knowledge he has mastered is much ahead of the court."
After understanding Fang Xuanling's words, His Majesty remained silent for a long time without replying.
Li Junxian felt suspicious for a long time after hearing this. Zhang Yang was more powerful than ordinary merchants. If merchants were just merchants, that would be it.
But what is the biggest worry for a person who is well versed in government affairs and has read a lot of books when he goes into business?
Li Shimin stood up slowly and whispered: "Does the Zhongshu Province have any containment measures?"
Fang Xuanling said in a low voice: "Your Majesty, Lishan Mountain has reached great success. It is like a vast ocean of water, but the way to control water has always been to block it rather than to clear it."
"Um."
Li Shimin nodded in response and was no longer in the mood to look at the Taiye Pond.
"Come here, summon Cen Wenwen."
"Here."
…
The next day, Li Tai was still worried about his wife, "Brother-in-law, I'm too busy these days."
The fat man scribbled on the ground with a branch in despair, and then threw the branch into the river angrily.
Zhang Yang was wearing a bamboo hat and sitting in the shade of a tree. The fishing rod was placed casually on the bank of the river. He closed his eyes and leaned against the tree, enjoying the coolness and comfort of this moment. It didn’t matter whether the fish bit the hook or not, it didn’t matter.
.
The daughter-in-law with her daughter on the side was whispering about household matters with King Wei's concubine Yan.
Listening to Li Tai's complaints, Zhang Yang lowered his bamboo hat, sat upright with his hands folded, and said calmly: "How is the matter at the Technical Institute?"
Li Tai moved his steps and got closer to his brother-in-law. As expected, he felt much more comfortable sitting under the shade of the tree. He whispered: "According to my brother-in-law's arrangement, I went around asking for people, but none of them came. They even made a fuss.
Made a lot of jokes.”
"Ah, very good."
"Why?" Li Tai said tangledly: "We obviously have enough manpower in our own village, but we still suffered from Lu Zhaolin's anger in vain. Now everyone knows about it."
"How many people in our village are willing to go to the Technical Institute?"
"We have enough manpower, so we selected a few and divided them into several majors according to my brother-in-law's requirements, including cooking, textiles, cast iron and agriculture."
Lishan has no shortage of technical manpower in this area. The masters recruited from outside have to adapt to the technical environment of Lishan, which is thankless. Rather than doing this, it is better to directly use people from the village.
This was the consideration from the beginning. Knowing that Li Tai could not recruit anyone, Zhang Yang was not angry and felt even more satisfied.
"Okay, now many people should know that there is such a place in Lishan. In the future, there will be no shortage of students and tuition fees."
Li Tai said with a bitter face: "Can someone else do this kind of wronged thing in the future?"
"His Royal Highness the King of Wei can have greater influence by making unreasonable troubles. The affairs of the princes can easily become the subject of people's talk after dinner."
The guards came in a hurry, "The County Marquis, His Royal Highness King Wei, and Minister Cen are here."
Li Tai nodded and said: "Most of you are here to check the accounts at the wine shop, please come in."
"Here."
The weather has been extremely hot recently, and Cen Wenwen was soaked with sweat from Chang'an City to Lishan Mountain.
Li Tai took out a bunch of chilled fresh grapes from a basket of ice cubes.
The grapes had been chilled and were experiencing a slight chill. Cen Wenwen was not polite and ate one with great enjoyment. He also said with emotion: "They say Lishan is really extravagant."
Li Tai said unhappily: "I won't let you eat it. I'll spit it out."
Cen Wenwen said with a smile: "It was Ma Zhou of Yushitai who impeached Lishan for his extravagance, not the lower officials."
"Hmph! What's the intention of this person named Ma? He's a villain who can't eat grapes!"
Li Tai crushed an earthworm to death with his foot, and it seemed that the little man Ma Zhou was the one he crushed to death.
Cen Wenwen took out another grape from the basket filled with ice cubes and ate one with enjoyment, "Well, it's really a beautiful thing in the world."
He was eating one in his mouth and holding one in his hand.
Zhang Yang took off his bamboo hat and stretched lazily, "Brother Wenwen, please eat slowly. If you eat too fast, you will get a stomachache."
"How can eating a grape cause you to have a stomachache?"
"The King of Hejian County hosted a banquet for everyone in the clan yesterday. They ate too many ice-cold grapes in the hot summer. Many people got upset last night and are still drinking the decoction at Divine Doctor Sun's place."
"Yeah?"
"If you don't believe it, go and see it yourself, they haven't even gone back yet."
After saying that, Zhang Yang took a sip of water and said, "Brother Wenwen also took some grapes with him when we went there. Lishan couldn't finish them all by himself."
"Thank you so much, Marquis of the County." Cen Wenwen did not refuse. He thought of His Majesty's request and explained his intention.
"The accounts of goods transactions in the Hexi Corridor? What is your Majesty doing looking at this?"
"Your Majesty said that after the tax changes in the Hexi Corridor, we need to understand the flow of goods and ask the Western Regions and Turkic tribes for their needs."
Seeing that Zhang Yang didn't speak, Cen Wenwen repeated, "County Marquis?"
"Why did Your Majesty suddenly think of watching this?"
Cen Wenwen narrowed his eyes and smiled, stroking the short beard on his chin, "Your Majesty felt that the county prince had taken advantage of the loophole, and could not find a way to punish the county prince, so he wanted to find the reason from it, so that he could be more prepared for Lishan in the future."
Li Tai asked in confusion: "Don't the DPRK and China always have tax accounts?"
Cen Wenwen still had a smile on his face, "The county prince probably has another book of accounts in his hand. That is the flow and direction of goods in the Hexi Corridor, as well as the purchasing intentions of various ministries."
"What does Father want with these?" Li Tai scratched his head and asked in confusion: "Brother-in-law, what does Father want?"
Zhang Yang said with emotion: "Your Majesty is surrounded by experts to give guidance."
Li Tai was confused, "Huh?"
"No!" Zhang Yang smiled relievedly, "There are so many capable people in the court, so His Majesty should be surrounded by experts."
Cen Wenwen stood upright and said in a low voice: "Please also ask the county marquis to hand it over to the subordinate official, who can then hand it over to your majesty."
After that, he ate another grape.
Zhang Yang stood up and patted the dirt off his clothes, "Brother Wenwen, that is the result of Lishan's collection of mutual market transactions over the past few years. Your Majesty cannot just take it."
Cen Wenwen nodded and said: "His Majesty also said that if the county prince can donate it to the court, the tea mountains in Bingzhou will also be donated to Lishan Mountain."
"Well, the tea in Taiyuan, Shanxi is also good. I want to go to Yangqu County, the capital of the Three Jin Dynasties. There is a mountain there. The mountain is covered with yellow flowers, which is called Huanghua Mountain."
"Well, I understand and will report the truth to Your Majesty."
Zhang Yang walked up to him and asked: "Who told your majesty about this?"
"My official didn't know it at first, but later I heard that the craftsman who built Taiye Pond said that His Majesty had been talking to Fang for a long time."